Tire-building apparatus



Oct., 21, 1924.

c. KUENTZEL TIRE BUILDING APPARATUS Filed Feb. '7.

f/ /l// l 24 25 26 gli? Patented ct. 21, 1924.

UNITED STATES `PATENT OFFICE.

CURT KUENTZEL, OF AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR T0 THE B. F. GOODRIGH COMPANY, OF

NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

TIRE-BUILDING APPARATUS.-

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CURT KUnN'rznL, la citizen of the United States, residin at Akron, in the county of Summit and tate of Ohio, have vinvented a certain new and useful Tire-Building Apparatus, of which the following is a speci cation.

This invention relates to tire-building apparatus and particularly to stitching devices and movements for the same.

The object ofmy invention is to provide improved automatic means for controlling the movement of stitching tools and particularly to provide quick-acting means adapted to apply a predetermined pressure to each part of the work and to withdraw the tools out of the way at the endof each operation. The particular embodiment described herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings is adapted to perform this stitching operation upon the tread in an improved manner.

Of the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a part of a tire-building machine embodying a preferred form of my invention, showing the tread stitching-roller tools out of operative position.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the tread stitching tools in operative position. l

Fig. 3 is a detailed section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section in the middle plane of the work through the tool-head, showing the position of the parts when the stitching tools are out of contact with the tire.

Referring to the drawings, 10 is a base, supporting a'frame 11, upon lwhich is revolvably mounted an annular core 12. 13 is a tire carcass upon said core and 13L is a tread on said carcass. 14 is a lever formed with a bracket 14a, said lever being pivoted at one end for vertical movement upon a revolvableshaft 15 which extends from the frame 11. Upon the outer end of the lever 14 is a tool-carrying head 16 which will be further described hereinafter. Mounted upon the base 10 in alignment with the lever 14 are actuating means therefor comprising a bracket 17, a toggle 18 connecting said bracket with.the arm 14, a power cylinder 19 of which the piston-rod 20 is shown, iluid connections 19a therefor, and a piston-rod ide 21. The outer end of the piston-rod 1s provided with a fork 22. 23 is a gimbal ring pivotedb between the forks of said piston rod at their outer ends. 24 is a rod having one end pivotally connected to the elbow 'of the toggle 18 and the other end slidably extending through the gimbal `ring 23 and between the prongs of the fork 22.

25 is a coil spring encircling the rod 24 bey tween the gimbal ring 23 and an ad'ustabl nut 26 upon the end of said rod, sai spring being adapted to impel said rod toward the cylinder 19. 27 is an vadjustable stop-bolt threaded into the base 10 and adapted to receive a lug 28 formed upon the lower arm of the toggle 18 to limit the retractive movement of the toggle.

29, 29 are tread-stitching tools inthe form of rollers mounted upon the outer end of the lever 14 in a manner presently to be described. 30 is a U-shaped stop-roller journaled upon the end of an adjustable bolt 3l secured upon the arm 14, the stop-roller 30 being in alignment with the middle plane of the tire and adapted to contact with the tread thereof when the stitching tools have reached a predetermined position relative to the tire. i

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4 showing the tool-head in detail, 32 is a horizontal boxshaped housing disposed crosswise of the lever 14 at its outer end and formed With 'a lengthwise elongated opening through its Ytop ywall and with two spring-enclosing sleeves extending downward lfrom its bottom. 33, 33 are end plates for said housing 32, formed with bearings 34 in the centers thereof for a right-and-left threaded screwshaft 35. Said shaft is formed .with a stopblock 34a between the reversed threads. 36

,nana

is an open-ended box-shaped member within 'I the housing 32 and intertitting therewith laterally and longitudinally, butl vertically slidable therein and formed with an elon'- gated opening through its top wall registering with that of the housing 32. Compression springs 37, 37 are interposed within the aforementioned sleeves between the Hoor of the inner box 36 and plugs which are threaded into the lower ends of the sleeves. 38, 38 are tool-carrying brackets upon the upper ends of which the tread-stitching tools 29, 29 are rotatably mounted on axes approximately parallel to that of the tire core. The brackets 38 extend downward through the elon ated openings or slots in the top walls of t e housing 32 and the inner box 36 and are slidable lengthwise thereof. Their lower ends slidably fit the interior of the inner box 36 and are formed with oval, horizontal holes 39, 39, which are threaded at their upper ends onl with segmental female ri ht-hand an left-hand threads respective y, corresponding `to the reversed male threads ofthe shaft 35, which extends through said holes 39, 39. 40 is a tension spring interposed between the brackets 38. 4l is a sprocket wheel secured to the protruding end of the right-and-left threaded shaft 35 and connected with a power sprocket 42 on the shaft 15 by a drive chain 4 In the operation ofthe device the tire core 12 carrying the carcass 13 with the tread 13 attached thereto along its middle line being mounted upon the machine, fluid under pressure is admitted to the cylinder 19 driving the piston tothe right as viewed in F ig. 1, partially straightening the toggle 18 and compressing the spring 25, thereby swinging the arm 14 vertically into operaL tive position with the tread stitching `tools 29 bearing against the tread at its middle line. Up to this time the tools are held together, their brackets abutting against the stop-block 34, b the spring 49, the threads of the screw sha t 35 being out of mesh with the threads at the top of the holes 39 in the brackets 38 by reason of the elevated position of the inner box 36 and the brackets 38 due to the action of the springs 37, as shown in Fig. a.

As the straightening toggle 18, actuated by the spring 25, continues to elevate the -arm 14 and housing 32 and the threaded shaft 35 after the tools 29 have come in contact with the thread and are thereby checked in their upward movement, their pressure against the tread overcomes the springs 37, permitting the housing 32 carrying the threaded shaft 35 to continue its upward movement and bring the threads ot' said shaft into mesh with the segmental threads at the top of the holes 39 in the brackets 38.

Rotation of the core, and of the threaded shaft 35 by the sprockets 41 and 42 and the chain 43, meanwhile may have been started, or they may be set toy revolving after the toggle device has brought the tools into contact with the thread. As soon as the right-and-left threads of the sha ft 35 mesh with those of the brackets 38 their rotation forces gradu'ally apart the brackets 38. While said brackets and the thread stitching tools 29 carried thereby are thus driven apart by the action of the reversed threads, against the action of the spring 40, the tools .re rotated by their frictional contact with the revolving tire. As the tools move laterally of the tire, stitching the tread thereon,

lthe toggle device constantly presses them upward against the tire' tread, causing their working edges with suitable pressure to follow the lateral contour of the tire and carry the stitching operation progressively from the middle to the edges of the tread. When they have reached the desired position laterally and radially of the tire, as predetermined by the setting of the bolt 31 carrying the stop roller 30, the latter, coming in contact with the tire, stops the upward movement of the lever 14 and the tread stitching operation is completed. The fluid pressure in the cylinder 17 is then released or reversed, returning the arm 14 to the inoperative position shown in Fi 1. head recedes from the tire, releasing the pressure upon the springs 37, the latter raise thc box 36 within the housing 32 to the position shown in- Fig. 4, thus throwing the segmental threads in the bracket 38 out of mesh with the threadedshaft 35 and permitting the spring 4() to draw the brackets back together against the stop-block 34B, ready to repeat the operation.

An advantage of thespring connection 25 i between the cy inder 19 and the toggle 18 is that the parts may be so proportioned that the spring 25 will continue to expand after the piston has traversed its full stroke and a diminishing force will thus be exerted upon the toggle 18, compensating the increased mechanical advantage of the toggle in/ its more straightened position and of the wedging action of the tools as they pass onto thc sides of the tire, thus preventin too great a pressure of the tools in the si e regions of the tire. By varying the tension of spring 2.7 and by substituting toggles of different mechanical advanta es various gradations in the pressure of t e stitching tools as they move around the tire may be obtained, and the same gradation of pressure may he appliedv to successive tires.

VVarious modifications obviously may be used without departing from my invention, and 1 do not desire to limit my rights to the specific construction shown in this embodiment.

I claim:

1. ln a tire-building machine, the combination of a rcvoluble tire core, a stitching roller mounted for rotation and for movement inwardly around the tread and side surfaces of a tire on said core, means for feeding said roller a-way from the middle plane of the core, a power member for feeding it in the general direction of the core axis, and a yielding connection between said power member and roller.

2. in tire building apparatus the combination of a tire core, means for su porting and circumferentially rotating said core, a stitching roller adapted to operate upon a tire mounted on said core`v `.yielding means for urging said stitching roller generally toward the axis of rotation of said As the tool reo 3. In tire building apparatus the combination of a tire core, means for supporting and circumferentially rotating the same, a stitching roller adapted to operate upon a tire mounted on said core, a support for said stitching roller adapted to be presented to and retracted from the tread portion of said tire, driving means carried by said sup' port and adapted to be thrown into effective operation bypressure of said roller against the work, to feed said roller laterally of the core, andyielding means for automatically throwing said driving meansl out of effective operation when said -support is retracted from the work.

4. Ina tire-building apparatus the combination of an annular tire core, means for rotating the same, a revolvable stitching member, 'mechanism adapted to feed'said stitching member toward the axis of the core, a screw, and a member formed with segmental threads normally disposed in inoperative relation to said screw but adapted automatically to mesh with said screw for moving said stitching member laterally of said core as said stitching member contacts the work.

5. In a tire-building apparatus the combination of an annular tire core, means for rotating the same, revolvable stitching members, supporting members for said stitching members provided with segmental threads, and means comprising a rotary member' formed with right` and left hand threads adapted automatically to be thrown into and out .of mesh with said segmental threads as said stitching members engage and disengage the work for moving said stitching members laterally -of said core and permitting them to be returned to their central positions.

6. In tire-building .apparatus the combination of a tool head, tool-carrying members provided with segmental threads and slidably mounted on said tool head, revolvable stitching tools mounted upon said toolcarrying members, a revolvable right and left threaded member adapted to mesh with the. segmental threads of said tool-carrying member and means for yieldingly holding said threaded member out-of mesh with the segmental threads of said tool-carrying members.

7. In a tool-head for tire-building apparatus the combination of tool-carrying members ,provided with segmental threads, means for yieldingly pulling the same toward each other, and a right and. left threaded member adapted to be thrown into and outof mesh with the segmental threads of said tool-carrying members.

8. In a tool-head for tire-building apparatus the combination of tool-carrying adapted yielding y to hold said right and 'left threaded member out of mesh with said segmental threads but to be overcome by the pressure of the tools against the worko 9. In tire-building apparatus the combination of an annular tire core adapted to be rotated circumferentially, a stitching tool, fa tool-carrying member adapted to carry said tool in a direction substantially radial of said core, means for positively feeding said. tool away from the middle plane of the core, a power member for feeding it inward, a yielding connection between said power member and tool, and' a roller mounted upon said tool-carrying' member and so positioned as to stop the radially inward movement of said tool-carry@ ing member at a predetermined position.

10. in a tire-building apparatus the combination of a frame, a tire core rotatably -mounted thereon, a tool-carrying lever pivoted to said frame, a wheel'journaled at the pivotal point of saidA lever, a toolhead mounted u on said lever, a screw journaled in sai tool-head, a wheel secured to said screw, a driving member connecting said wheels, and means for moving said lever about its pivotal axis.

11. In tire-building apparatus the combination of a tire core adapted to be rotated circumferentially, a tool adapted to work 'upon a tire mounted on said core, a tool-head adapted for positively iheding said tool laterally of the tire as said toolhead is moved toward the axis of the tire, and means for so moving said tool-head comprising a toggle and av spring connected thereto and adapted to act upon said toggle with a diminishingI force.

12. In tire-building apparatus the coin- -bination of a rotatable tire core, a tool head,

means for yieldingly urging said tool head toward said core, in the plane thereof, a pair of stitching rollers mounted on said tool head, and positive driving means adapted to be thrown into action by contact of said stitching rollers with the work, for

gradually feeding said stitchers laterally of the work.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 28 day of January, 1921.

CT NIZEL. 

